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Aug 5, 2017

UBER FREIGHT NOW IN CALIFORNIA * USA

* Uber Freight expands trucking service to California and other states

(Video from USA Today: It's Uber's latest attempt at expanding its user base)
--- Edwin and Minnie Gilmore opened their own trucking company, Gilmore & Long Enterprises, a couple of years ago after Edwin had put in decades driving for other companies. Now he drives his Freightliner Cascadia cab with a 53-foot box trailer throughout Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi, while she handles bookkeeping and dispatching from their Katy, Texas, home...Finding freight for him to haul involves looking at “load boards” online, calling brokers, negotiating rates, and seeking to match up inbound and outbound loads, a process that might take close to an hour each time, Minnie Gilmore said. But since March they’ve been trying out Uber Freight, a service from San Francisco’s Uber that connects truck drivers to loads, The Gilmores can simply look at the Uber Freight app, view loads with set pricing, and select one that matches Edwin’s preference to stick to about 600 miles from home...Uber’s been testing Freight since May, largely in Texas. On Thursday, it said it would expand to new markets, including California, Arizona, Chicago and the Midwest, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Uber Freight will now cover more than a quarter of U.S. drivers and freight, the company said. Uber Freight is also adding more personalization features to the app so it can suggest loads to drivers based on their preferences...

(Photo: The Uber Freight app displays loads and pricing) ... Uber Freight makes money through an arbitrage-like system. It negotiates rates, often via long-term contracts, with shippers. Then it prices individual loads based on market dynamics — similar to its well-known surge pricing for rides when demand is high. It pockets the difference between long-term contracts and spot rates... Another selling point for truckers: Uber pays drivers quickly, rather than making them wait for 30 days or more, as is typical in the industry. Minnie Gilmore saidshe hasn’t yet used that feature, as she’s signed up with another service that provides quick payments — but charges her a 3 to 5 percent fee... San Francisco, CAL, USA - SFGate, by Carolyn Said - August 3, 2017